Ed Lee called "a national embarrassment," city officials, state regulators and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. representatives still could not pinpoint the causes of two power outages at city-owned Candlestick Park during the Monday Night Football game." />

Share this:

As San Francisco dealt Tuesday with what Mayor Ed Lee called “a national embarrassment,” city officials, state regulators and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. representatives still could not pinpoint the causes of two power outages at city-owned Candlestick Park during the Monday Night Football game.

The loss of power delayed the 49ers-Steelers game for tens of thousands sitting in the darkened stadium and millions more watching the marquee game on national television.

“Obviously, we all experienced kind of a national embarrassment for this to have happened. … Right now we’re not wasting any time blaming anyone for this accident that occurred, but we’re going to make sure this does not happen again,” Lee said.

The mayor, who was at the game, said his initial thought when the lights went out the first time was, “Oh, my God.” Luckily, he said, there were no injuries beyond the city’s pride.

Team representatives refrained from public finger-pointing Tuesday. But Jim Mercurio, the 49ers’ vice president of stadium operations, voiced concern over “the kind of uncertainty that this situation produced” and wants to make sure safeguards will be put in place to prevent a recurrence. And that will take a complete understanding of what happened and why.

The National Football League referred questions about the incident to the 49ers; however, Mercurio said, “they are asking the same questions we are asking. What happened? How did it happen? What are you doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

Stadium line snaps

Investigators are still trying to determine what happened. But this much they know: At about 5:20 p.m., PG&E’s primary 12 kilovolt overhead distribution line that powers Candlestick Park snapped just outside the stadium.

The rupture happened at a splice where two pieces of the line came together. Lee said there is no indication of foul play.

The sections of the line that were spliced have been collected and taken to a lab for forensic analysis, said PG&E spokesman Joe Molica.

Power was restored about 20 minutes later, once the electrical feed from a backup distribution line kicked in. While the switch from one power source to another is supposed to be nearly seamless, it took time for the semi-automated backup system to be rebooted, said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, which operates the 51-year-old stadium.

Another partial power outage hit the stadium at 6:43 p.m., leaving it under emergency generator lighting until 6:57 p.m.; its cause is also unknown.

Engineers and other electrical and equipment specialists from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission and PG&E huddled Tuesday afternoon to go over what they know and, more importantly, how to move forward with their investigation.

They’re looking into the possible malfunction of a city-owned transfer switch inside the stadium that is supposed to maintain a constant flow of electricity should the primary power source go down. They’re also reviewing whether there was a problem with the backup line. PG&E’s preliminary investigation found no indication that its equipment was at fault in the second blackout, Malico said.

The company has agreed to share its diagnostic information with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said Barbara Hale, assistant general manager of power for the local agency.

‘Rolled with it’

The first outage happened right before the player introductions; the second during the game, briefly interrupting play. The 49ers went on to beat the Steelers 20-3.

“I don’t know how much it did or didn’t affect our guys,” 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh said of the outages. “It was a surprise. … The players and coaches just rolled with it.”

The power problems came at a particularly vulnerable time for the city, as it continues to hold out hope that the 49ers will abandon plans to relocate to Santa Clara and decide to build a new stadium in San Francisco instead.